Recently retired Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin revealed that he had been contemplating retirement for some time before making the decision midway through the series against Australia. He mentioned that he no longer felt any growth or a new direction in his creativity.
The 38-year-old surprised many by announcing his retirement right after the third Test at the Gabba in Brisbane. His final Test match was against Australia in Adelaide, where he had a quiet performance, taking just one wicket in 18 overs in the only innings he bowled.
Speaking to Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton on Sky Sports, Ashwin shared his thoughts on his retirement:
“I did contemplate a few times. For me, the day I woke up and felt the creative side of me didn’t have a future or direction, that would be the day I would give it up. I suddenly felt that creative side didn’t have a lot of upsides to explore.”
Ashwin stated that he prefers to leave the game calmly, without insecurity, always prioritizing the game over himself. He said:
“I’ve never been a person who holds onto things, I’ve never felt insecure in life. I don’t believe what is mine today is going to be mine tomorrow. That has probably been one of my elevating factors all these years.”
“I always wanted to leave things behind as nonchalantly as I can because I do not believe in people celebrating me, I don’t believe in the attention we get sometimes in India. It is the game that always stood ahead of me, all the time.”
“My extensive exploration for success has given me a broad range of knowledge”- Ravichandran Ashwin
Ashwin also highlighted his deep understanding of cricket, gained through extensive exploration, stating:
“The amount of exploration I have had to do to be very successful has left me with a wide variety of knowledge to be able to say, with confidence, that this is a game I love and can explore and brutally talk about for the rest of my life.”
The 38-year-old will continue playing in the IPL, representing Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2025.
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